Rather than Manually Creating Windows Shortcuts for QuickLinks.ahk, Use the AutoHotkey FileCreateShortcut Command

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Recently, while working with the QuickLinks.ahk script, I’ve encountered so many AutoHotkey learning points involving a number of different techniques that I plan to spend the next few blogs discussing the various possibilities. If you regularly use QuickLinks, then you’ll likely want to fashion it to your needs. While most of the tailoring gets done by working directly with the target folders, you’ll find times when changing the code works best. Rather than attempting to deliver a final product for final download, I offer instruction on how to add various features to your version of QuickLinks.ahk and leave the work up to you. The example shown in the image below reflects the changes I’ve made to my personal copy and do not appear in the posted version.

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One of the characteristics I like most about the QuickLinks.ahk script is its simplicity. It operates on a basic backbone which includes two loops (the files and folders Loop command). The first loop works through the folders found in the QuickLinks directory creating the top level menu. The second loop adds the individual links in each folder to each main menu item. Continue reading →

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Why Memorize a Bunch of Hotkey Combinations When Using an AutoHotkey Pop-up Menu Does the Trick?

A while back I talked about adding hard-to-remember AutoHotkey Hotkeys to the System Tray icon right-click menu. This saved me from needing to recall too many key combinations. As I worked on my last blog about creating the auto-startup script, I realized that I was again testing too many Hotkey combinations. Numerous combos activated other Windows or program functions. Since we can so easily set up AutoHotkey Hotkeys, we often go keyboard shortcut crazy—later finding that they interfere with others actions. Plus, remembering the various combinations doesn’t get any easier.

It dawned on me that I wanted an easier way to launch various AutoHotkey scripts without depending upon Hotkeys at all. This brought me back to my QuickLinks menu app. Continue reading →

Discover Autohotkey Tricks By Perusing Code In Other Scripts, Plus How to Load Any Windows Program at Startup

Many users find it easy to manually setup a program to auto-launch whenever they log onto Windows, but creating a shortcut and placing the new file into the Windows Startup folder requires a number of steps. With AutoHotkey, the same actions take just one command.